Lexical contribution to nonword-repetition effects: Evidence from event-related potentials

Two experiments investigated the modulation of event-related potentials (ERPs) by the repetition of orthographically legal and illegal nonwords. In Experiment 1, subjects silently counted occasional words against a background of nonwords, a proportion of which were repetitions of an immediately preceding legal or illegal item. ERPs to repeated legal items showed a sustained, topographically diffuse, positive-going shift. In contrast, repeated illegal nonwords gave rise to ERPs showing a smaller and temporally more restricted positive-going modulation. In an attempt to equalize depth of processing across legal and illegal nonwords, subjects in Experiment 2 were required to count items containing a nonalphabetic character against the same background of nonword items. ERPs to repeated legal items showed a modulation similar to, although smaller than, that found in Experiment I, but no effects of repetition were observed in the ERPs to the illegal nonwords. It was concluded that the effects of repeating nonwords, at least as manifested in concurrently recorded ERPs, differ as a consequence of whether items can access lexical memory, and that this is inconsistent with the attribution of such effects solely to the operation of episodic memory processes.     

The role of structural context in perception: Syntax in the recognition of algebraic expressions

Two character-identification experiments investigated the function of structural context during the processing of briefly exposed algebraic strings. Neither experiment prodded evidence to support the notion of an algebra-superiority effect, a contextually driven enhancement of the recognition of specific algebraic characters. However, the results of Experiment 2 indicate that the structure of algebra does provide information at the level of a character’s categorical denomination. These findings suggest that the parsing of an algebraic string includes a level of processing in which its structural context places restrictions on the denominations of its symbols. A processing model of algebraic perception is proposed that incorporates these syntactic constraints—constraints that appear to be independent of feature-based character identification processes.     

J. M. Keynes' ‘theory of evidential weight’: Its relation to information processing theory and application in The General Theory

The conclusions derived by Keynes in his Treatise on Probability (1921) concerning induction, analogical reasoning, expectations formation and decision making, mirror and foreshadow the main conclusions of cognitive science and psychology.The problem of weight is studied within an economic context by examining the role it played in Keynes' applied philosophy work, The General Theory (1936). Keynes' approach is then reformulated as an optimal control approach to dealing with changes in information evaluation over time. Based on this analysis the problem of inductive justification, from a societal perspective, is not, What can we rationally believe will occur in the economic future, given our past experiences? but Can we make the future so as to attain specific economic goals with practical certainty? An answer requires that restrictions be placed on the methodological individualist approach and the acceptance of a restricted holistic approach.     

Predicting child behavior problems in maritally violent families

Previous research indicates that children from violent marriages are more likely to suffer from conduct problems and/or anxiety disorders than children from nonviolent, satisfactory marriages. However, knowledge regarding specific factors present in violent marriages relating to child problems is limited. The present study examined the relationships involving interspousal aggression, parent-child aggression, and child behavior problems in a sample of 45 children from maritally violent families. Mothers indicated how often their children witnessed interspousal aggression and were victims of parent-child aggression. Mothers also rated their children's problem behaviors while children reported on their own depressive symptoms. The witnessing of interspousal aggression was highly associated with parental aggression directed toward children. Parent-child aggression related to attention problems, anxiety-withdrawl, motor excess, and conduct problems in children. However, the witnessing of interspousal aggression was not significantly related to child behavior problems. These results are consistent with theoretical predictions linking marital problems to child behavior by virtue of their association with parenting.This research was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid of Research awarded to the first author by Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, and NIMH Grant No. MH35340 awarded to the third author. The authors wish to thank Martha Wray and her staff at VIBS for their help throughout this project.     

Psychotropic drug treatment among learning-disabled,educable mentally retarded,and seriously emotionally disturbed students

Psychotropic drug treatment in learning-disabled (LD), educable mentally retarded (EMR), and seriously emotionally disturbed (ED) children and adolescents receiving public school special education services was examined. The findings indicated that while treatment prevalence rates for EMR and ED groups were comparable, the rate for LD students was much lower. In the LD sample, pharmacotherapy was associated with higher ratings of behavioral deviance, longer placement in special education, less social integration, and greater peer rejection, which suggests that symptom severity is an important determiner of pharmacotherapy in this population.     

Sexual experience and preference for males or females in the female rat

The influence of sexual experience on preference behavior was investigated in adult female rats. In the first experiment, preference behavior for sexually active males versus estrous females was investigated in female rats who were experienced with mounting behavior. Preference of these mount experienced females was compared to preference of females who were naive in this respect. Mount experience with estrous females induced a female-directed preference in ovariectomized female rats, irrespective of whether the females were treated with OIL or with testosterone-propionate (500 micrograms TP, injected once 48 h prior to testing). Sexually naive, OIL-treated females did not show a preference for males or females, but TP induced a preference for a male. Individual differences in mount frequency were not correlated with preference behavior. In the second experiment, the influence of experience with feminine sexual responses on preference behavior was investigated. OIL-treated and TP-treated females oriented equally toward males and females when they had been given the opportunity to copulate with males prior to the preference tests. The results strongly suggest that prior sexual experience is an important determinant of preference behavior. The female's behavior during sexual interactions was, however, not predictive of later preference.